Pelé was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Brazil to the famous Fluminense footballer Dondinho. He was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, but received his nickname “Pelé” from his school friends during his early schooldays. He is regarded by most as the greatest football player of all time, and the best in his position as a midfielder and forward.

Pelé scored an incredible 1,283 goals throughout his distinguished career. A dozen of those goals came from three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970) against several of the greatest players to have ever walked on a soccer field. Pelé has appeared in 92 international matches for Brazil and scored 77 goals.

Pelé started his career at the age of 11, and from then on enjoyed success on the field and held the record for the youngest player to ever play in a World Cup at the age 17. He also became the youngest player to ever score and win the World Cup adding to Brazil’s title in 1958.

Throughout Pelé’s career, he has been affiliated with such clubs as the Santos Futebol Clube and the New York Cosmos in NASL, where he joined Hall of Famers Steven Ross, Ahmet Ertegun, and Nesuhi Ertegun (the Cosmos Ownership Group) bringing national media attention to the NASL as well as also bringing new investors into the league.

He was inducted into the celebrated National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1993, and was awarded Brazil's Gold Medal for his outstanding services to the sport, subsequently becoming sports minister in 1995.

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